Swimming pool safety device



Nov. 1, 1960 M. P. SHOOK EI'AL 2,958,083

SWIMMING POOL SAFETY DEVICE Filed Sept. 19. 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 M455 1? SHoaK, QED .AQMOEDE,

INVENTORS.

BY CD-1.22m, C v HM NOV. 1, 1960 SHQQK ETAL 2,958,083

SWIMMING POOL SAFETY DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 19, 1955 .flj/LES 4p SHao/d, ii /$50 MMOEDE,

INVEN TORS'.

JD-LQQMIAA SWIMMING POOL SAFETY DEVICE.

Miles P. Shook, Paramount, andFr ed Nemoede, Whittier, 'Calili; said Shook assignor to said Nemoede Filed Sept. 19, 1955, Ser. No. 535,187

6 Claims. (Cl. 4-172) This invention relates to a swimming pool construction, and more particularly to a safety devicev which takes the form of a rigidly extensible cover housed in.

wells at the ends or sides of the pool. that is readily and easily disposed over the surface of the water.

The increasing availability of swimmingpools has led to an.increasing hazard to pool owners, their families, and to neighborhood children who find their way into the pool when it is unobserved .by capable adults. Pools have quite a strong attraction for children of all sizes and ages, and, the mere fact that a poolrnay happen to be on someone elses property is no deterrent totheir natural childish curiosity. Furthermore, a. child has little comprehension of the hazards involved in an unattended pool, and if he does, he is quite apt to overestimate his abilities in deep water. As a result, many unfortunate and tragic accidents have followedtheinstah lation of a swimming pool. Because of the increasing frequency of these accidents, home owners have become more and more reluctant to purchase pools, andan increasing demand by civic organizations and the. general public has been voiced to provide proper fencing for them. i

The objects of the present invention are therefore: to avoid the hazards incident to an unattendedlpool by providing a power or manuallyclosable swimming pool cover; to provide a pool cover which'can easily and rapidly be extended over the pool sui face or retracted into its housing to provide a pool cover which is durable and of suflicient strength to support the weight of any person or persons wandering onto the cover; to provide apool cover which can be easily inst-alledin either new or existing pools; to provide a simple but 'safe apparatus to cover swimming pools which requires little'or no maintenance and no storage space away from the pool; and to provide an apparatus for safely covering all types of pools regardless of their shape or form,

The invention will be more apparent from an inspection and consideration of the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a swimming pool showing one embodimentof the cover apparatus of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal section of the pool taken along line 2--2 of Figure l; f

Figure 3 is a detail cross section of a ,cablesheave taken online 33,of Figure 1; U i

Figure 4 is a detail cross section on line 4 -4 of Figure 1 showing the bearing strip in position on the inner edge of the overflow channel;

Figure 5 is a detail perspective .view of a cornerof an interlocking flange rollable cover embodiment of the invention;

Figure 6 is a schematic representation of a preferred embodiment of the cover apparatus of the invention;

Figure 7 is a similar view of a further. modification of the cover;

Patented Nov, l,1960

Figure 8 is a detail perspective view of an interlocking tongue and groove rollable cover modificatiom.

Figure 9 is a cross-sectional view of the tongue and groove cover taken. on line 99 of Figure 8;

Figure 10 is a cross-sectional view of the upper portion of a swimming pool showing a pre-formed curve cover modification;

Figure 11 is another similar cross-sectional viewillustrating a cover support member which may beemployed with thedevice; and

Figure 12 is a detail vertical cross-sectional view ofv another form of cover member.

Referring. specifically to the drawings, and; tothe pre: ferred. embodiment of the invention, swimming pool 1'. is provided at either end, or at appropriate ends or sides, depending on the configuration of the pool, with a cover. storage well 2, and a pair of cable sheavev or. pulley housing Wells 3 at the corners of the opposite end. A

cylindrical cover drum 4 is positioned within storage well 2 and is provided at each of its ends with ashaft. 5. rotatably mounted upon supports 6. Cable spools o-r reels are attached to shafts 5. exteriorly of cover drum 4. At one end of the cover drum, a gear wheel 8 fixedly secured to the shaft at that end of the drum, is engaged by a worm gear 9 secured to the shaft of a reversible motor 10. The motor is wired from its alter-. nate direction terminals to a switch 11 positioned at a convenient point in the vicinity of, or at 'the pool location, through a.source of electrical current'and back to the opposite terminal of the motor.

The cover member 12 is attached in any desirable manner atone of its ends to. drum 4, and at its other endto cables 13 housed in overflow channel 14.- These cables ride on sheaves 15 rotatably mounted in any desired manner, as by brackets 16 in'thesheave housings,

and are. connected at their other end to the spools 7.

Cover member 12 extends completely from side to side of the pool and into the overflow channel opening 17.

so that it is spaced from, but adjacent to overflow channel outer. wall' 18. A. hearing member 19. is positioned along the inner portion of the top wall 20 and provides for smooth support for. the cover 12 as it is extended into closedposition or retracted into its housing 2. The overflow channel may. be modified in an existing pool or so constructed in a new installationas to be of sulficient depth and width to permit unobstructed passage of the cable between the sheave and the cable spool. If desired, a separate horizontal cable and cover channel or groove may be constructed in the sides of the pool above the water line, similar in form to the overflow channel.

Shown in Figure 5 is a preferred cover embodiment of the present invention. This cover is composed of individual slats 21, each of which is arcuate upwardly in its central portion 22. Each slat has at one of its longitudinal edges, a hook-shaped overlap formed by flanging the edge upwardly and vertically as at 23, and

then oppositely and horizontally as at 24-. The other longitudinal edge has a mating hook-shaped underlap: formed by flanging the edge upwardly at an obtuseitself on the drum 4. That end of the cover which is connected to the cable may be provided with a separate rim having a hook-shaped overlapping flange interlock--- ing with a slat 21 and terminating in a box-shaped flange having a flat transverse portion 27 to which the cable is connected as by the hook 28 and eye 29.

It should be apparent that the cover member can be made of any desirable material as, for example, steel, aluminum, dural, brass, wood, plywood, Masonite, plastic, Fiberglas or any other material of sufficient strength to support the weight of a person, or a person falling thereon. It has been found from experience, however, that when constructed of wood or other buoyant material, a cover may be utilized with less power requirement, since in extending or retracting the cover a substantial portion of its weight is supported by the water and not by the bearing plates 19.

When the pool is in use, the cover is wound upon the drum 4 and is completely out of sight within the housing 2. In order to extend the cover over the pool, switch 11 is engaged in the extended position, causing the motor and worm gear and cable spool to rotate. As the cable is wound upon the spool, it pulls the cover on bearing plates 19 over the surface of the pool. A suitable stop switch may be utilized, as well known in the art, to stop the motor when the cover is fully extended. Alternately, if desired, a slip clutch may be provided between the worm gear and the shaft of the motor to disengage the worm gear when the cover encounters resistance to further extension. In this event, the switch is returned to the open position by the operator. To retract the cover, all that is necessary is to place the switch 11 in return position, thus rotating the motor, worm gear and cover drum in the opposite direction and thereby winding the cover upon the drum. As the under side of the cover will be wet from its contact with the water in the pool, the entrance 2a of cover storage well is preferably sloped upwardly to insure that as the cover is drawn thereover into well 2, most of the water is drained back into the pool.

If it is desired, a hand crank may be detachably secured to one of the drum shafts to permit manual extension or retraction in the event of power or motor failure.

Another form of cover member is shown in Figure 12 wherein the cover consists of a plurality of slats 53, also of a type provided with flexibly interlocking means on the longitudinal edge thereof. Each slat has a hollow, central portion 54, and is formed along an edge thereof with a T-shaped rib 55 adapted to mate with block '0- shaped lips 56 formed on the adjacent edge of the adjoining slat 53, with a plurality of slats 53 so engaged forming a cover that may be utilized in the same manner as one composed of slats 21. Slats 53 may be extruded from a metal or plastic material, and, if formed with closed ends, are buoyant enough to support a cover formed thereof and also the weight of a person falling thereon.

Figure 7 illustrates a modified form of the invention which differs from the preferred embodiment thereof in that instead of utilizing a reversible motor, two motors are employed: one to extend the cover, and one to retract it. In this modification the cylindrical cover drum is rotatably mounted upon shafts 30 secured in position, in a manner similar to that utilized for the preferred embodiment, upon suitable supports Within a cover storage well. Attached to one of the shafts is a gear 31 engaged by worm 32 which is driven by cover return motor 33. Shaft 30 is provided with a slip clutch 34 in order to permit free rotation of the drum in a cover-extending direction. A suitable well is provided at the opposite end of the pool to house cable spool 35 rotatably mounted therein upon shafts 36. A gear 37 secured to the shaft at one end of the spool exteriorly of slip clutch 34 is engaged by worm 38 rotated by cover-extending motor 39. Horizontal cable sheaves 40 are rotatably mounted in sheave wells at each of the corners of the pool oppositely disposed from each of the spools located in the cover storage well end of the pool. These sheaves are so located that cables 41 travel within the overflow channels 14.

The cover 42 illustrated in Figure 7 is of the form more clearly shown in Figures 8 and 9, but it may, if desired, take the construction of the preferred form of the invention. Cover 42 is composed of individual slats 43 which are provided with a rounded tongue 44 at one longitudinal edge and a rounded groove 45 at the other longitudinal edge. Cables 41 which extend transversely through aligned holes provided in each of the slats are each provided with a pair of annular shoulders 46. These annular shoulders are secured to each cable at points exteriorly of the slats a suflicient distance apart to retain the slats in close abutment while permitting the cover to be rolled upon the drum. The ends of each of the cables are respectively attached to the cover drum and to the cable spool.

The cover extending and retracting motors 39 and 33 are suitably wired through a control switch similar to switch 11. With the cover wound upon the drum and housed within its storage well, operation of the switch will start motor 39 and wind cables 41 upon spool 35, thus extending the cover over the pool. To retract the cover back into its housing or well, the switch is placed in the return position, thus engaging motor 33 and cansing rotation of the drum in a cover-winding direction. The slip clutches 34 permit free rotation of drum 4 when motor 39 is engaged, and free rotation of cable spool 35 when motor 33 is in operation.

Further modifications which may be utilized in the construction of the pool cover of the present invention are illustrated in Figures 10 and 11. In Figure 10, cover member 47 is pre-stressed to form an arcuate section in a direction transverse to the extending and retracting motion so that the cover will be spaced out of contact with the water over its under surface area and so that repeated loads upon the cover will not result in the cover sagging beneath the water line. In Figure 11 a cover center support member 48 is shown consisting of piston 49, hydraulically or mechanically extendible from its cylinder 50 and a bearing element 51 secured to the top of the piston. The cover is supported and retained in position over the surface of the water upon the bearing element. A seat 52 may be provided in the floor of the pool so that when the cover center support member is withdrawn, the bottom of the pool will be smooth. Bearing element 51 which can be square, rectangular, circular or any other shape, can alternatively be provided with two or more pistons if desired.

While a worm and gear arrangement for the transmission of rotary motion to the cable spool and cover drum has been disclosed herein, it will be evident that any mechanical or hydraulic coupling will sufiice so long as means are in fact provided for rotating these elements in the proper direction.

While the particular devices herein shown and described are fully capable of attaining the objects previously stated, it is to be understood that they are merely illustrative of the presently preferred and alternate forms of the invention and that they are not restrictive of the details of construction or design herein shown other than as defined in the appended claims.

The invention claimed is:

1. A protective cover for a swimming pool having a bottom from which oppositely disposed side walls and first and second end walls extend upwardly, said side walls having water overflow channels formed therein that extend the length thereof, comprising: a first well situated adjacent said first end wall outside said pool and trans versely disposed relative thereto; two second wells situated adjacent said second end wall outside said pool and located at the corners thereof; two elongate bearing members afiixed to the portions of said side walls that define said overflow channels; a plurality of elongate rigid cover members in side-by-side relationship and extending transversely across said pool with the end portions of said cover members extending over and being slidably supported on said bearing members; two cables disposed in said overflow channels with first ends of said cables being connected to the most outwardly disposed of said cover members; a drum rotatably supported in said first well about which all of said cover members can be wound to completely remove the same from said pool, with the most inwardly disposed of said cover members being afiixed to said drum; two spools disposed at opposite ends of said drum and in alignment with said overflow channels, with second ends of said cables being affixed to said spools; two sheaves rotatably supported in said second wells, said cables passing over said sheaves; and a reversible prime mover connected to said drum and said spools for concurrently rotating said drum and spools, which prime mover when rotating in a first direction winds said cable on said spools and unwinds said members from said drum until said pool is completely covered, and when said prime mover rotates in a second direction it unwinds said cables from said spools and winds said cover members on said drum until the same are completely removed from said pool.

2. A protective cover as defined in claim 1 wherein said cover members are of tongue and groove construction and in abutting contact, said cover members having transversely extending bores formed at the ends thereof, with said cables being connected to said cover members by extending through said bores.

3. The combination of a swimming pool and a safety cover device of claim 1 wherein the cover member is upwardly arcuated transversely to the direction of extension and retraction of said cover.

4. The combination of a swimming pool and a safety cover device of claim 3 wherein the cover member in its extended position over the surface of said pool is retained upon a supporting member comprising a bearing element secured to a piston, mounted within a cylinder positioned below the floor of said pool and means for actuating said piston in a vertical direction to cause abutment of said bearing element and said cover member and to withdraw said piston into said cylinder.

5. A protective cover for a swimming pool having a bottom from which oppositely disposed side walls and first and second end walls extend upwardly, said side walls having water overflow channels formed therein that extend the length thereof, comprising: a first well situated adjacent said first end wall outside said pool and transversely disposed relative thereto; two second wells situated adjacent said second end wall outside said pool and located at the corners thereof; two elongate bearing members aflixed to the portions of said side walls that define said overflow channels; a plurality of elongate rigid cover members in side-by-side relationship and extending transversely across said pool with the end portions of said cover members being slidably supported on said bearing members, each of which members have a rib of T-shaped cross section projecting from one side thereof and a lip of C-shaped cross section extending from the opposite side thereof, with said ribs and lips being in interlocking engagement to define said cover; two cables positioned in said overflow channels with first ends of said cables being connected to the most outwardly disposed one of said cover members; a drum rotatably supported in said first well, about which drum all of said cover members can be wound to completely remove the same from said pool, with the most inwardly disposed one of said cover members being afiixed to said drum; two spools positioned at opposite ends of said drum and in alignment with said overflow channels, with second ends of said cables being affixed to said spools; two sheaves rotatably supported in said second wells that are engaged by said cables; and a reversible prime mover connected to said drum and said spools for concurrently rotating said drum and spools, which prime mover when rotating in a first direction winds said cable on said spools and unwinds said members from said drum until said pool is completely covered, and when said prime mover rotates in a second direction it unwinds said cables from said spools and winds said cover members on said drum until the same are completely removed from said pool.

6. A protective cover as defined in claim 5 wherein said cover members are buoyant.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 541,768 Lugrin June 25, 1895 769,423 Wilson Sept. 6, 1904 863,741 McCloud Aug. 20, 1907 1,262,643 Coleman Apr. 16, 1918 1,707,287 Sudzki Apr. 2, 1929 1,744,641 Kohl Jan. 21, 1930 2,350,288 Michelman May 30, 1944 2,517,393 Law Aug. 1, 1950 2,580,555 Kroeger Jan. 1, 1952 2,754,899 Karobonik et al July 17, 1956 2,754,900 Karobonik et al. July 17, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 139,330 Austria Nov. 10, 1934 

